Beniamino Stella was born in Pieve di Soligo, Treviso, on 18 August 1941, one of twelve siblings. Ordained a priest on 19 March 1966 by his uncle, Archbishop Costantino Stella, he took a doctorate in canon law at the Lateran as a student of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. He entered the Holy See's diplomatic service in 1970 — Santo Domingo, Zaire, the Secretariat of State, and five years as chargé d'affaires in Malta, where the nuncio had been expelled by Prime Minister Dom Mintoff.
On 21 August 1987 he was appointed titular Archbishop of Midila and nuncio to the Central African Republic, Congo, and Chad, consecrated by John Paul II on 5 September. He became nuncio to Cuba in December 1992 — helping prepare the Pope's historic 1998 visit — and to Colombia in February 1999. In 2007 Benedict XVI recalled him to head the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the school for papal diplomats. On 21 September 2013 Francis appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, overseeing the formation of the world's diocesan priests through the new Ratio Fundamentalis; he served until 2021. Francis created him a cardinal on 22 February 2014, with the deaconry of Santi Cosma e Damiano.
Major Works & Initiatives
Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
Eight years overseeing priestly formation worldwide.
Nuncio in Cuba
Helped prepare John Paul II's historic 1998 visit.
The diplomats' school
President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.
Controversies
On the record
No significant public controversies reported.